KR100329953B1 - A half-tone phase-shift photomask and blanks for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A halftone phase shift photomask and blanks for a halftone phase shift photomask are provided, to allow the transmittance and reflectivity to be controlled by the combination of layer thickness and to simplify the structure of the photomask and the blanks. CONSTITUTION: The halftone phase shift photomask comprises a transparent region and a semitransparent region comprising the chromium compound formed by physical vapor growth method on a transparent substrate. The transmittance of the semitransparent region is 3-35 % when the transmittance of the transparent region is defined as 100 %, and the semitransparent region shifts the phase of the exposing wavelength to the transparent region. Preferably the chromium compound comprises chromium, oxygen or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen or chromium, oxygen, carbon or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon; and the semitransparent region layer is a monolayer or a multilayer.

Description

Halftone phase shift photomask, blank for halftone phase shift photomask {A HALF-TONE PHASE-SHIFT PHOTOMASK AND BLANKS FOR THE SAME}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to photomasks used in the manufacture of high density integrated circuits such as LSI and ultra-LSI, and photomask blanks for producing the photomasks. A shift photomask and a blank for a halftone phase shift photomask for producing this phase shift photomask.

Semiconductor integrated circuits such as IC, LSI, ultra LSI, etc. expose a desired pattern by thin film forming process such as oxidation, CVD, sputtering, photoresist on a substrate to be processed such as a silicon wafer, and a reduced projection stepper using a photomask. After that, it is manufactured by repeating a diffusion process such as a photolithography process or ion implantation which is developed and etched.

The minimum figure size of the photoresist pattern formed by such a photolithography process is required to be further miniaturized with high speed and high integration of semiconductor integrated circuits, and it is a resolution limit using a reduced projection stepper exposure method using a conventional photomask. As a technique for overcoming the limitation, for example, a phase shift photomask having a new structure as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 58-173744 and 62-59296, and a phase shift exposure method using the phase shift photomask Is proposed. This phase shift exposure method is a technique of improving the resolution and the depth of focus by manipulating the phase of the exposure light passing through the phase shift pattern formed on the photomask.

As the phase shift photomask, various configurations have been proposed. Among them, a so-called halftone phase shift photomask as shown in, for example, U.S. Patent No. 4,890,309 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 4-136854 has been proposed for early practical use. Attention has been drawn from the viewpoint, and various proposals have been made regarding constructions and materials that can improve yields and reduce costs by reducing the number of manufacturing processes, such as Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-2259 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 5-127361. It is.

Here, the halftone phase shift photomask will be briefly described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows the principle of half phase shift lithography, and FIG. 4 shows the conventional method. 3 (a) and 4 (a) are sectional views of the photomask, FIGS. 3 (b) and 4 (b) are the amplitudes of the light on the photomask, and FIGS. 3 (c) and 4 (c) are the light on the wafer. 3 (d) and 4 (d) show the light intensity on the wafer, respectively, wherein 101 and 201 are substrates, 202 is a 100% light shielding film, and 102 is substantially 180 degrees out of phase of incident light. The translucent films, 103 and 203 having a transmittance of 1 to 50% are incident light. In the conventional method, as shown in Fig. 4A, a 100% light shielding film 202 made of chromium or the like is formed on a substrate 201 made of quartz glass or the like, and a light transmitting portion having a desired pattern is formed. As shown in Fig. 4 (d), the light intensity distribution of the light becomes wider and the resolution is lowered. On the other hand, in halftone phase shift lithography, the light transmitted through the translucent film 102 has a phase difference of 180 ° substantially with the light transmitted through the opening, so that the light in the wafer-shaped pattern boundary portion as shown in FIG. It is possible to suppress the intensity from being zero and widening the lower part of the light intensity distribution, thereby improving the resolution.

This halftone phase shift photomask has at least a translucent region and a transparent region on the transparent substrate, and the phase difference between the light passing through the translucent region and the transparent region is substantially 180 degrees. It has been shown that the resolution increases in holes, dots, spaces, lines, and the like of the semiconductor device, thereby increasing the depth of focus. If the film thickness of the translucent film is d, the exposure wavelength is λ, and the refractive index of the translucent film at the exposure wavelength is n,

d-λ / ｛2 (n-1)｝

It works best when you meet the relationship.

It should be noted that in the phase shift photomasks other than halftones, since the light shielding film and the phase shifter film are different patterns, at least two engraving processes are required to produce the mask pattern, whereas in the halftone phase shift photomask, Since it is only one, the plate making process is essentially one time, which is a great advantage of the halftone phase shift photomask.

However, the semi-transparent film 102 of the halftone phase shift photomask requires two functions of phase inversion and transmittance adjustment. As the film structure for realizing this, a single layer film serving both functions in one layer and a multilayer film serving two functions in separate layers can be considered. In the former case, the plate making process is performed in one time to take advantage of the above-described halftone phase shift lithography. In the latter case, for example, the phase shifter layer made of coated glass (SOG) is used as the phase inversion layer. As apparent from the case where a chromium light shielding layer is used as the layer to form the same pattern, even when the same pattern is formed, it is necessary to go through two plate making processes due to the difference in materials, resulting in an increase in cost and a decrease in yield. Therefore, the semi-transparent film 102 requires a combination of a phase shifter layer material and a light shielding layer material that can perform a single plate making process even in a single layer structure or a multilayer structure.

However, there is a problem that the material selection is very difficult because the semi-transparent film material that meets such conditions and is practically without problem in terms of the manufacturing process of the photomask is not known. Only a membrane mainly composed of a chromium compound proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-127361 could satisfy the above-described conditions. However, in many cases, the chromium compound can not be used as a semi-transparent film of the halftone phase shift photomask because the optical properties are greatly changed depending on the composition.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a simple structure, which can shorten the plate making process, thereby achieving cost reduction and improvement in yield, as well as most conventional manufacturing lines of chromium photomasks. The present invention provides a halftone phase shift photomask and a blank for a halftone phase shift photomask for producing the phase shift photomask.

On the other hand, as the structure of such a halftone phase shift photomask, the structure shown in FIG. 17 is proposed. In the figure, reference numeral 501 denotes a quartz substrate, and 502 denotes a chromium thin film. The chromium thin film 502 forms a translucent region, and a region in which the chromium thin film 502 does not exist forms a transparent region. In the mask having such a structure, processing, inspection, and cleaning as in the normal process are possible, but a problem arises in that it is difficult to correct the bonding.

In addition, a single layer film of a metal oxide can be considered as a structure that can be modified in a general modification process. As an example of a metal oxide, the spectral transmittance of 200 nm-800 nm of chromium oxide is shown in FIG. The film thickness d of this film is adjusted so as to satisfy d = λ / ｛2 (n−1)｝ in the exposure wavelength of i-line (365 nm) of ultra-high pressure mercury lamp. As clearly shown in Fig. 18, the transmittance at the exposure wavelength is very low, but the transmittance at the long wavelength in the visible region used for inspection and the like is high.

As described above, in the single-layer phase shifter of the metal oxide, the transmittance at the exposure wavelength can be adjusted, but the transmittance at the long wavelength side is increased. The long-wavelength side, especially the ultra-high pressure mercury lamp, e-line (546 nm) is used for inspection and dimensional measurement of photomasks, but when inspecting a mask having such a single layer phase shifter of metal oxide, the transmittance in the e-ray exceeds 30%. When the contrast of the transmissive part and the semi-transparent part is lowered, a problem arises in that inspection and dimensional measurement cannot be performed.

In addition, such a metal oxide is not conductive and has a problem in that it is charged during electron beam exposure and the position of the resist pattern is shifted.

The transmittance of the halftone phase shift photomask varies depending on the transfer condition and the manufacturer to be used, and various transmittances are required. There has also been a problem that it is difficult to control the refractive index and extinction coefficient so that the transmittance is changed without changing the phase difference depending on the film formation conditions.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object thereof is to provide a halftone phase shift photomask.

(1) To suppress the transmittance at the visible ultra-wavelength side used for inspection, to prevent the decrease in the contrast of the transmissive portion and the translucent portion, to facilitate inspection and measurement;

② to prevent charge up by making the phase shifter film conductive;

(3) facilitating transmittance control while maintaining the phase difference of the exposure wavelength at 180 °;

④ controlling the reflectance of front and back,

5. By adjusting the film thickness of each layer while maintaining the same film composition of each layer, an optimum multi-layer structure can be realized for at least two different exposure lights.

23 shows one example of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-136854 as a conventional example of the halftone phase shift photomask according to the present invention. This photomask is provided with a semitransparent film 412 pattern made of coated glass (SOG) on which a light absorbing material is added on a glass substrate 411.

In general, however, the coated glass has a lower adhesion strength with the substrate than the film formed by physical vapor deposition (PVD), such as sputtering, which is used as a conventional photomask. Physical cleaning such as high-pressure water washing and ultrasonic cleaning may cause peeling or cracking of the membrane, which makes it difficult to clean sufficiently.

In general, the coated glass has a refractive index of 365 nm (i-ray) at an exposure wavelength of about 1.4 to 1.5, and a thickness of about 365 nm to 456 nm is required for 180 ° phase shift, so that chromium or molybdenum silicide of a conventional photomask is mainly used. Since the thickness of the light shielding film is thick compared to about 60 nm to 130 nm, there is a drawback that the etching becomes poor in process density and it is difficult to obtain a vertical processing cross section.

The third aspect of the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to apply the physical cleaning generally used for photomask cleaning as it is, and to have a high-precision and vertical processing cross-section, halftone phase shift. It is to provide a photomask and a blank for a halftone phase shift photomask therefor.

As described above, the first object of the present invention is a simple structure, which can shorten the plate making process, thereby achieving cost reduction and improvement in yield, and also using a half of a conventional chrome photomask manufacturing line as it is. The present invention provides a tone phase shift photomask and a blank for a halftone phase shift photomask for producing the phase shift photomask.

A second object of the present invention is a halftone phase shift photomask,

(1) To suppress the transmittance at the visible ultra-wavelength side used for inspection, to prevent the decrease in the contrast of the transmissive portion and the translucent portion, to facilitate inspection and measurement;

② to prevent charge by making the phase shifter film conductive;

③ facilitating transmittance control while maintaining the phase difference of exposure wavelength at 180 °;

④ controlling the reflectance of front and back,

⑤ By adjusting the film thickness of each layer while maintaining the same film composition of each layer, an optimal multi-layer structure can be realized for at least two different exposure lights.

The third object of the present invention is to apply the physical cleaning generally used for photomask cleaning as it is, and to have a halftone phase shift photomask having a high precision and vertical processing cross section and a blank for halftone phase shift photomask therefor. To provide.

1 is a view for explaining the manufacturing process of the single-layer halftone phase shift photomask of Example 1 of the present invention;

2 is a view for explaining a manufacturing process of the multilayer halftone phase shift photomask of Example 2;

3 illustrates the principle of halftone phase shift lithography,

4 is a view showing the principle of the conventional method,

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing i-ray transmittance when a chromium compound film formed by varying a flow rate ratio of carbon dioxide gas / nitrogen gas has a film thickness of reversing phase;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a composition analysis result by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the film of FIG. 5;

7 is a view showing a state in which the film reduction amount by the chemical immersion according to the difference of the oxygen source gas,

8 is a view showing the composition analysis result by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the chromium compound film formed by changing the flow rate ratio of oxygen gas / nitrogen gas;

9 is a view showing a profile in the depth direction of a composition determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy;

10 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing one form of a halftone phase shift photomask of the second invention;

11 is a sectional view schematically showing another embodiment;

12 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing another embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the spectral transmittances of a chromium nitride and chromium oxide two-layer film of the present invention;

14 shows the spectral transmittance of chromium nitride;

FIG. 15 is a view showing i-ray transmittance change with respect to the light shielding layer film thickness in the case of the layer structure of FIG. 12; FIG.

16 is a view showing i-ray reflectance change with respect to the incident side layer film thickness in the case of the layer structure of FIG.

17 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a conventional halftone phase shift photomask;

18 shows the spectral transmittance of chromium oxide;

19 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a halftone phase shift photomask of an embodiment of the third invention of the present invention;

20 is a diagram showing a spectral transmittance of light in a semi-shielding layer region of the halftone phase shift photomask of the embodiment of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a sectional view for explaining a manufacturing method of the embodiment of FIG. 19; FIG.

22 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of another halftone phase shift photomask blank;

Fig. 23 is a sectional view of an example of a conventional halftone phase shift photomask.

In view of the above problems, the present invention has been studied to develop a practical, high precision, and easy to manufacture halftone phase shift photomask. As a result, the first invention has a structure including a film mainly composed of chromium compounds in a certain composition range. Thus, the present inventors have found that the semi-transparent film of the halftone phase shift photomask which combines phase inversion and transmittance adjustment can be formed into a single layer or a multilayer film that can be patterned by one plate making process.

That is, the first invention relates to a blank for halftone phase shift photomask composed of a transparent substrate, a monolayer film mainly composed of a chromium compound having a limited composition range provided thereon, or a multilayer film comprising the layer, and A halftone phase shift photomask obtained by patterning a semitransparent film of blanks.

The characteristics required as the semi-transparent film of the halftone phase shift photomask include the characteristics of reversing the phase of the exposure light and adjusting the transmittance as described above. These characteristics are the materials constituting the semi-transparent film (in the case of multiple layers, each layer). Is determined by the complex refractive index (refractive index and extinction coefficient) and the film thickness of each material constituting When the translucent film is treated as an absorption film shown in, for example, M. Born, E. Wolf, Principles of Optics, P. 628 to P. 632, multi-interference can be ignored, so the phase change Φ of vertically transmitted light is calculated as follows. .

Where Φ is the phase change received by the light vertically transmitted through the photomask in which the multilayer film of (m-2) layer is formed on the substrate, and χ ^{k, k + 1} is the kth and (k + 1) th Phase changes, u _k and d _k , which occur at the interface with the layer, are the refractive index and the film thickness of the material constituting the k-th layer, respectively, and? Is the wavelength of the exposure light. However, the layer whose k = 1 is a board | substrate, and the layer whose k = m is air.

In general, the halftone phase shift photomask needs to have a transmittance of 1 to 50% with respect to the exposure light. When the translucent film formed on the transparent substrate at the film thickness calculated by the above formula (1) shows the transmittance within this range, It can be used for a single layer halftone phase shift photomask as it is. In the case where the transmittance deviates from a higher side than this allowable range (in case of transmitting more exposure light), in addition to the translucent film, a light shielding layer made of a metal chromium thin film or the like for adjusting the transmittance is provided and laminated to form a multilayer structure. The transmittance can be in the above range in the form of a phase shift photomask.

One of the characteristics of the film mainly composed of the chromium compound of the present invention is the light shielding layer described above. For example, when a film mainly composed of metal chromium is used, the translucent film can be patterned only once by plate making, as shown in the following examples. In this way, the number of processes can be reduced, resulting in cost reduction and improved yield. Of course, two or more layers of films composed mainly of chromium compounds having different compositions may be laminated to perform transmittance adjustment and phase inversion.In addition, the composition of each layer does not necessarily have an interface and does not need to be discontinuously changed. It is also possible to make the composition change continuously without having. In this case, however, the amount of phase change slightly deviates from the simulation of the above equation (1). In addition, one layer does not necessarily need to be a uniform material in the film thickness direction, but may be distributed in composition, structure, and the like. In the case where a semitransparent film is formed by stacking two or more layers mainly composed of chromium compounds or such films and metal chromium, the transmittance spectrum distribution is adjusted by varying their composition, structure, and film forming conditions. In addition, the etching processability can be improved.

The chromium compound of the present invention is a compound containing chromium oxide, chromium oxide chromium, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxynitride, and argon, and it can be seen that the film mainly composed of them differs greatly in optical properties depending on its composition. In addition, the refractive index and extinction coefficient of the film formed by changing the composition were measured, and the transmittance at the film thickness inverting the phase as described above was measured. As a result, it was satisfactorily used as a semitransparent layer of a single layer or a multilayer halftone phase shift photomask. It was found that there is a composition range that can be used. Below, the basis for determining this composition range is demonstrated concretely.

In the layer mainly composed of the chromium compound, a film is formed on the transparent substrate by a conventional thin film formation method such as vacuum deposition, sputtering, ion plating, or the like. For example, in the case of the sputtering method which is an example of a manufacturing method, it is possible to form a film by the reactive sputtering method of a metal chromium target. In this case, a chromium compound is formed on a substrate by mixing a reactive gas capable of supplying an element that forms a chromium compound by reacting in a target surface, a substrate surface, or a sputter space, and supplies a chromium compound. Of course, both reactive gas and sputter gas can also be mixed gas of multiple gases. This method is advantageous in that the sputtering apparatus used for producing blanks of ordinary chromium photomasks can be used as it is. Here, the chromium compound of various compositions can be formed into a film by changing the kind and mixing ratio of gas.

As such a film forming method, as a reactive gas, one or two or more kinds of mixed gases, which may be oxygen sources such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water vapor, nitrogen oxides, and nitrous oxide gas, and argon, nitrogen, if necessary One or two or more mixed gases of commercial sputter gases, such as neon, helium, and xenon, are used. Thus, as an example, a commercially available spectral ellipsometer for refractive index and extinction coefficient of a film formed by varying the flow rate ratio of carbon dioxide gas / nitrogen gas on a well-cleaned silicon wafer using carbon dioxide gas as an oxygen source and nitrogen gas as a sputter gas. Calculate the film thickness when the exposure wavelength is i-line (365 nm) of ultra-high pressure mercury lamp and the substrate is made of synthetic quartz to shift the phase of exposure light by 180 °, and the transmittance of the film formed on the photomask substrate by the film thickness is measured. The obtained result is shown in FIG. Herein, the film forming apparatus is a conventional planar DC magnetron sputtering apparatus, the film forming conditions are gas pressure of 3.0 mTorr, gas flow rate is 100 sccm combined with carbon dioxide gas and nitrogen gas, the sputter current density is 0.01A / cm ² . As can be seen from Fig. 5, in the relationship with the transmittance, a carbon dioxide gas flow rate formed in an area of more than a few percent can be suitably used as a semitransparent film for a halftone phase shift photomask.

In addition, chromium, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of films having carbon dioxide / nitrogen gas ratios of 0/100, 10/90, 20/80, 70/30, 100/0 formed on these silicon wafers The result of having calculated | required the relationship between the composition ratio of an atom and the carbon dioxide gas / nitrogen gas flow ratio is shown in FIG. Here, the number of oxygen, carbon and nitrogen atoms present when the chromium atom is 100 is shown. In addition, the compositional analysis by X-ray light molecular spectroscopy is made into the latter condition. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the relationship between the carbon dioxide / nitrogen gas flow rate ratio and the film composition has a clear inflection point as indicated by point a in the figure. That is, in the region where the carbon dioxide gas flow rate is smaller than the point a, the composition depends largely on the flow rate, and the carbon atom flow rate increases from 0 to 20% as the amount of chromium is 100 to about 200 or more. As a result, the number of nitrogen atoms is rapidly changing from 100 or more to 20 or less. These oxygen atoms and nitrogen atoms are complementary to each other, and both of them are always about 200 to 300 with respect to the chromium atom 100. On the other hand, carbon atoms do not change much in the total amount. 5 and 6, the composition ranges of the chromium atom, the oxygen atom, and the nitrogen atom are clear.

As a result of forming the same film as the carbon dioxide gas / argon gas system instead of general argon as the sputter gas, the same result as the carbon dioxide gas / nitrogen gas system described above was obtained. Therefore, it can be seen that the composition range as described above for the chromium atom, the oxygen atom, and the argon atom is an effective range as a halftone phase shift photomask.

Next, in order to investigate the role of carbon atoms, the same film formation was performed in an oxygen gas / argon gas system using oxygen gas instead of carbon dioxide gas as an oxygen source.

At this time, the same results as described above were obtained, but the chemical resistance of the film was inferior to that of the film in the carbon dioxide / nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide / argon gas systems. For example, the film reduction amount after immersion for 30 minutes in mixed acid of concentrated sulfuric acid: concentrated nitric acid = 10: 1 (volume) heated to 80 degreeC used for washing | cleaning a photomask is shown in FIG.

This shows that the film formed using carbon dioxide gas has better resistance to mixed acid used for cleaning than the film formed using oxygen gas. This property also applies to other chemicals (acids, alkalis, organic solvents, etc.) used in the mask process. In addition, for the sake of clarity, although acid resistance is inferior, the film formed in the oxygen gas / argon gas system shown in FIG. 7 can be used for practical use as a halftone phase shift photomask. 8, the composition calculated | required by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy method of the film | membrane formed in the oxygen gas / argon gas system is shown. When comparing FIG. 8 and FIG. 6, it turns out that the amount of carbon contained in a film | membrane differs. It is considered that the strength of the chemical resistance mentioned above is due to the containing of carbon atoms. In addition, quantitative analysis of carbon atoms is generally difficult, and carbon atoms are identified in the film even when the gas serving as the carbon source is not actively introduced in FIGS. 6 and 8, and these results overlap some amount of background. I think it is.

Therefore, the inventors examined various film forming environments and analytical environments, and found that the above-mentioned effects appeared when the carbon atoms contained 2% or more of the chromium atoms.

9 shows the depth profile of the composition determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In most cases, carbon atoms are widely distributed in the surface region. Membranes containing many of these carbon atoms in the surface region have improved resistance when immersed in a chemical solution.

As a result, it is considered that the film mainly composed of the chromium compound which can be used as the semi-transparent film of the halftone phase shift photomask is limited to one included in the following composition ranges 1 to 6 by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In addition, although the reactive sputtering method of the chromium target was demonstrated as an example of the manufacturing method so far, this is only an example and it is thought that it shows the same characteristic also if it is contained in any of the composition ranges shown below in any manufacturing method.

(1) The composition ratio of chromium atom and oxygen atom is 100 to 100 to 300.

② It is contained in (1) and contains 2% or more of carbon atoms relative to chromium atoms.

It is contained in (3) and contains more carbon atoms than other regions in the surface region within a depth of 30 nm from the film surface.

④ It is contained in ①, and when the chromium atom is 100, the nitrogen atom is contained in the ratio of nitrogen or oxygen atom to 350 or less.

⑤ It is contained in ①, and when chromium atom is 100, argon atom is contained in the ratio of argon atom and oxygen atom in the ratio of 350 or less.

(6) It contains any of impurity atoms other than chromium, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and argon atoms within the range of 1 to ⑤ and not changing the refractive index of the exposure light determined by the deflection analysis method by 0.1 or more.

In the first invention, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis was performed as follows. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy apparatus used ESCASCOPE made from VG SCIENTIFIC UK.

ESCASCOPE's electronic energy analyzer is a 180 ° concentric hemispherical analyzer, which measures X-ray photoelectron spectra using a six-channel tron detector.

The data processing unit was DEC Micro PDP11 / 53, and quantitative calculation was performed using software of VGS DATA SYSTEM VGS5250 Version Jan 1992.

The device's ANALYSER WORK FUNCTION was 4.51 eV. The basic performance of this device is 3d5 / 2 peak of Ag when measured at 400W using MgK α (1253.60 eV) as the excitation X-ray source.

Energy resolution (eV) 0.95 1.10 1.40 2.20 Sensitivity (kcps / mm ² ) 130 260 480 930

The measurement conditions are as follows.

The X-ray source was measured at 500 W using an AlK α-ray 1486.60 eV excitation line.

The incident angle of the X-rays is 60 ° from the sample normal, and the detector is placed on the normal to the sample.

The measurement of the vacuum degree used MILLENIA SERIES IPGCl. The degree of vacuum was 5 x 10 ^-10 mbar or more and 1 x 10 ^-6 mbar or less. The exhaust system is based on the titanium pump operated by the Varian ion pump StarCell power unit 929-0172 (2201 / s) and the VGSPS7 SUBLIMATION PUMP CONTROLLER.

The analysis area measured an area of about 1 mm Φ or less.

XPS spectra were measured by binding energy.

In wide scan, 1000 eV to OeV (BE), Cr 2p to 620 eV to 570 eV (BE), O ls to 560 eV to 520 eV (BE), C ls to 320 eV to 270 eV (BE), and N ls to 430 eV to 380 eV (BE). Measured.

Each measurement was measured in CAE mode, and the pass energy 60eV, leV STEP, and the scan count were 2 times in the wide scan, and the pass energy 50eV, 0.1eV STEP, and the scan count were measured in 5 times. Channel time was all 100ms.

Although these measurement conditions were adopted in this measurement, it is only one example, and in a general apparatus, it is possible to measure in a practically sufficient range in which resolution and sensitivity are not significantly impaired in consideration of the charging amount. The order of calculation of the element composition composition is as follows.

The subtraction of the back ground uses the Shirley type in the software, and the decision of the background is fully considered to be the most natural peak shape so as not to be affected by the main peak satellite. In the quantitative calculation, the composition ratio of each element was calculated by dividing the peak area obtained by the measurement by the relative sensitivity coefficient based on Scofield's relative sensitivity coefficient in the software.

The composition ratio of the member elements was taken as a value when the calculated composition ratio became almost constant regardless of the etching time.

Scofield's relative sensitivity coefficients are 1.00 for carbon, 2.85 for oxygen, 7.60 for chromium, 1.77 for nitrogen, and 3.13 for argon.

Etching conditions are as follows.

An ion gun EX05 differential exhaust type electrostatic shock type ion gun with a two-stage electrostatic lens was used, a 400XGUN SUPPLY unit was used as a controller, and the magnification of the PHYSICAL IMAGE UNIT was set to one.

626 SAMPLE CURRENT METER was used for the measurement of the sample current.

The degree of vacuum was etched in the range of 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ mbar to 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ mbar and the sample current was in the range of about −0.5 μA to −1.0 μA.

FILAMENT current was 2.2A, EMISION CURRENT was 5 ~ 10mA, and Source ENERGY was 3 ~ 5KV.

Ar or Ne was used as an etching gas.

The etching time was varied depending on the etching rate of the substrate, and the etching and XPS spectrum measurement were alternated until the abundance ratio of the detected element appeared almost constant.

The match was not corrected using an electron gun.

The measurement conditions and etching conditions in the first invention are only examples, and in general, the measurement can be performed at equivalent spectral quality as long as the sensitivity and resolution are not impaired.

As described above, the blanks for the halftone phase shift photomask and the halftone phase shift photomask of the present invention include a halftone phase shift photo, wherein the halftone phase shift layer on the transparent substrate comprises at least one layer mainly composed of chromium compounds. In the mask, the composition ratio of the chromium atom and the oxygen atom of the layer mainly composed of the chromium compound is contained in the range of 100 to 100 by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

In this case, it is preferable that carbon atoms contain 2% or more of chromium atoms in the layer mainly composed of chromium compounds. At that time, it is preferable that carbon atoms are contained more than other regions in the surface region within a depth of 3 nm from the film surface of the layer mainly composed of chromium compounds.

In addition, when the chromium atom is 100 in the chromium compound layer, the nitrogen and oxygen atoms contain nitrogen atoms at a ratio of 350 or less, or the argon and oxygen atoms contain argon atoms at a ratio of 350 or less. It is preferable that it is done.

In the above, the layer mainly composed of chromium compounds may contain impurity atoms other than chromium, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and argon atoms in a range in which the refractive index determined by the deflection analysis method in exposure light is not changed by 0.1 or more. .

Further, it is preferable that the layer constituting the halftone phase shift layer is formed on the transparent substrate so that the phase difference Φ obtained by the formula shown below becomes nπ ± π / 3 radians (n is odd).

Where Φ is the phase change of light transmitted vertically through the photomask on which the (m-2) layer multilayer film is formed on the transparent substrate, and χ ^{k, k + 1} is the kth and (k + 1) th The phase change, U _K , and d _K occurring at the interface with the layer are the refractive index and the film thickness of the material constituting the k-th layer, respectively, and λ is the wavelength of the exposure light. However, k = 1 layer is a transparent substrate, k = m layer is air.

It is also preferable that the layer constituting the halftone phase shift layer is formed on the transparent substrate with a film thickness such that the transmittance to exposure light is 1 to 50%.

In view of the above-described problems, the second invention has been studied to develop a practical and high-precision halftone phase shift photomask. As a result, the semitransparent film of the halftone phase shift photomask has a multi-layer structure, in particular chromium nitride and oxynitride. By having a two-layer or three-layer structure of chromium carbide,

① to suppress the transmittance at the long wavelength side low,

(2) to provide charge inhibiting ability to the translucent film;

(3) facilitating transmittance control without changing the phase difference of the exposure wavelength;

④ that can control the reflectance of the front and back of the mask,

(5) The present invention has been completed by finding that the optimum multilayer structure can be realized for at least two different exposure lights by adjusting the film thickness of each layer while maintaining the same film composition of each layer.

That is, in the second invention, the halftone phase shift photomask has a semitransparent region and a transparent region on the transparent substrate, and the phase difference between the transparent region and the semitransparent region is substantially 180 degrees.

[1] The structure of the translucent film constituting the translucent region is a single layer film composed of one compound of chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide chromium, and oxynitride chromium chromium on the transparent substrate 1 side as shown in FIG. ) And a two-layer film of the one-layer film 4 of chromium or chromium nitride,

[2] As shown in Fig. 11, the translucent film is composed of one layer film 5 made of either chromium or chromium nitride on the transparent substrate 1 side, chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxynitride, or oxynitride. Consisting of a two-layer film of a one-layer film 6 of one compound of chromium carbide,

[3] As shown in FIG. 12, the translucent film is composed of a single-layer film 7 made of a compound of chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide chromium or chromium oxynitride carbide on the transparent substrate 1 side, and chromium. Or a one-layer film 8 made of any one of chromium nitride, and a one-layer film 9 made of one of chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide carbide, and chromium oxynitride carbide. It is.

In addition, the second invention includes a blank for producing a halftone phase shift photomask having such a configuration and a manufacturing method thereof.

Sputtering is generally used as a method for the chromium, chromium oxide, chromium nitride, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide chromium oxide, and chromium oxynitride carbide film, but methods such as deposition, ion plating, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) may be used. Can be.

When the film thickness of the multilayer film constituting the translucent film is λ for the exposure wavelength, the film thickness of the i-th layer constituting the translucent film is d _i and the refractive index at the exposure wavelength of the layer is n _i ,

a = Σ _i d _i (n _i -1) / λ ... (2)

In this case, it may be adjusted so that 1/3 ≦ a ≦ 2/3. Where Σ _i represents the sum of i. It goes without saying that a is best around 1/2. In other words, the translucent film may be formed on the transparent substrate so that the phase difference Φ between the air layers of the same thickness obtained by the formula shown below is in the range of nπ ± π / 3 radians (n is odd).

Where Φ is the phase difference of light vertically passing through the photomask in which the multilayer film of the (m-2) layer is formed on the transparent substrate, and n _k , d _k are the refractive index and the film thickness of the material constituting the k-th layer, λ Is the wavelength of exposure light. However, a layer of k = 1 is a transparent substrate, and a layer of k = m (m> 3, m is an integer) is air.

Next, regarding the transmissivity of the translucent membrane, when the transmissivity of the translucent region is 100%, the transmissivity of the translucent region is 1 to 50%, preferably 3 to 20%, which is effective as a halftone phase shift photomask.

14 shows the spectral transmittances of 200 nm to 800 nm of chromium nitride having a film thickness of 14 nm. Thus, chromium nitride has flat spectral characteristics from 300 nm to 800 nm. For this reason, by using chromium nitride, the transmittance | permeability on the long wavelength side can be suppressed low.

13 shows the spectral transmittances of 200 nm to 800 nm in the two-layer film of chromium nitride and chromium oxide according to the second invention. Compared with the spectral transmittance in the monolayer film of FIG. 18, it can be seen that the transmittance at the long wavelength side of the visible region is low. This makes it possible to inspect two ordinary semiconductor chips in the comparative inspection apparatus KLA-219e (manufactured by KLA Corporation).

Next, the charge inhibitory effect in electron beam drawing of the electron beam resist used as a mask for processing a translucent film is demonstrated.

By using a chromium or chromium nitride film having conductivity in the upper layer, the middle layer, or the lower layer with respect to a normal chromium oxynitride carbide film, the charge accumulated on the translucent film or in the film during electron beam drawing is grounded and charged through the chromium or chromium nitride film. Can be prevented. Although the structure of [1] is the most effective with respect to this prevention effect, even if it is the structure of [2] and [3], the effect is fully acquired.

By obtaining such a structure, the transmittance controllability in the exposure wavelength is also improved. It is difficult to independently control the refractive index and the absorption coefficient according to the film forming conditions.

In order to change the transmittance to, for example, 7, 10 and 15%, it is necessary to set the film forming conditions for each transmittance in the single layer structure. In contrast, in the multilayer structure, the transmittance can be controlled by the film thickness of chromium or chromium nitride, and the phase difference can be controlled by the film thickness of chromium oxynitride carbide. Since the absorption coefficient of chromium or chromium nitride is large, the transmittance is largely changed by slight film thickness change, but the phase difference is small. This is because the change in the phase difference can be corrected by the film thickness of the chromium oxynitride carbonized film.

Herein, the permeability T of the absorbed membrane is according to M. Born, E. Wolf, Principles of Optics, pp. 628-P. 632 (by Max Born and Emil Wolfs, 草 川徹, 田 田英嗣).

T = (n ₃ / n ₁ ) × τ ₁₂ ² τ ₂₃ ² exp (-2 × k ₂ × η) / (1 + ρ ₁₂ ² ρ ₂₃ ² exp (-4 × k ₂ × η)

+ 2 × ρ ₁₂ ρ ₂₃ exp (-2 × k ₂ × η) cos (Φ ₁₂ + Φ ₂₃ + 2 × n ₂ × η)} ----- (4)

Is given by Where n ₂ and k ₂ represent the refractive index and extinction coefficient at the exposure wavelength of the absorbing film, and n ₁ and k ₁ represent the refractive index and extinction coefficient at the exposure wavelength of the incident material of the absorbing film, and n ₃ and k ₃ are the The following formula is satisfied as the refractive index and extinction coefficient in the exposure wavelength of the emission side material.

ρ ₁₂ × exp (i × Φ ₁₂ ) = {(n ₁ + i × k ₁ )-(n ₂ + i × k ₂ )} / {(n ₁ + i × k ₁ ) + (n ₂ + i × k ₂ )}

τ ₁₂ × exp (i × χ ₁₂ ) = {2 × (n ₁ + i × k ₁ )} / {(n ₁ + i × k ₁ ) + (n ₂ + i × k ₂ )}

ρ ₂₃ × exp (i × Φ ₂₃ ) = {(n ₂ + i × k ₂ )-(n ₃ + i × k ₃ )} / {(n ₂ + i × k ₂ ) + (n ₃ + i × k ₃ )}

τ ₂₃ × exp (i × χ ₂₃ ) = {2 × (n ₂ + i × k ₂ )} / {(n ₂ + i × k ₂ ) + (n ₃ + i × k ₃ )}

η = 2π × h / λ .................. (5)

Where h is the film thickness of the absorbing film and? Is the exposure wavelength. It also assumes vertical incidence. In the case of a multilayer structure, the total transmittance of each layer can be calculated.

Next, reflectance control is enabled when the structure of [3] is obtained. In such a structure, it is possible to change the film thickness ratio of the chromium oxynitride carbides 7 and 9 of the upper and lower layers. The spectral reflectance of chromium or chromium nitride is high in reflectance due to the small change in wavelength. The oxynitride chromium carbide films 7 and 9 formed above and below the chromium film 8 serve as antireflection films using multiple interferences. For this reason, since the interference peak changes with film thickness, the reflectance in an exposure wavelength can be controlled.

Assuming that the structure of Figure 12 reflectance R is

R = (ρ ₁₂ ² exp (2 × k ₂ × η) + ρ ₂₃ ² exp (-2 × k ₂ × η)

+ 2 × ρ ₁₂ × ρ ₂₃ × cos (Φ ₁₂ + Φ ₂₃ + 2 × n ₂ × η)} / {exp (2 × k ₂ × η)

+ ρ ₁₂ ² ρ ₂₃ ² exp (-2 × k ₂ × η)

+ 2 × ρ ₁₂ × ρ ₂₃ × cos (Φ ₁₂ + Φ ₂₃ + 2 × n ₂ × η)} ........ (6)

Given by Where n ₂ and k ₂ are the refractive index and extinction coefficient at the exposure wavelength of the absorption film 8, and n ₁ and k ₁ are the refractive index and extinction coefficient at the exposure wavelength of the incident material 7 and 9, n _3. k ₃ is a refractive index and extinction coefficient in the exposure wavelength of the emission-side material 7, 9, and satisfies the following expression.

ρ ₁₂ × exp (i × Φ ₁₂ ) = {(n ₁ + i × k ₁ )-(n ₂ + i × k ₂ )} / {(n ₁ + i × k ₁ ) + (n ₂ + i × k ₂ )}

ρ ₂₃ × exp (i × Φ ₂₃ ) = {(n ₂ + i × k ₂ )-(n ₃ + i × k ₃ )} / {(n ₂ + i × k ₂ ) + (n ₃ + i × k ₃ )}

η = 2π × h / λ

Where h is the film thickness of the absorbing film and? Is the exposure wavelength. It also assumes vertical incidence.

In the processing of such a photomask, dry etching with a mixed gas in which oxygen is added to Cl ₂ and CH ₂ Cl ₂ is usually used. Instead of dry etching, a mixed aqueous solution of dicerium ammonium nitrate and perchloric acid may be used.

Even if such a multilayer structure is used, the upper layer and the lower layer are made of the same chromium-based film, so that the etching of the multilayer film can be performed in one step, and the processing step is not increased by multilayering.

Next, if it is at least two-layer structure for two different exposure wavelengths (called λ _A and λ _B ), a desired halftone phase shift photomask can be realized by selecting respective film thicknesses using materials having the same composition for each layer. Indicates.

Now consider a two-layer structure. In the case where a material having a refractive index of n _1A and n _2A of the first layer (shielding layer) and the second layer (shifter layer) with respect to the exposure wavelength λ _A is used, first, the transmittance condition is satisfied (that is, the transmittance has a substantial value). The first layer thickness h _1A is determined. The second layer thickness h _2A is also satisfied to satisfy the phase condition equation (2), i.e.

[(n _1A -1) h _1A + (n _2A -1) h _2A ] / λ _A = 1/2 ± 1/6 .......... (A)

Can be determined to be

Next, the procedure for determining the thickness h _1B and h _2B of the first layer and the second layer with respect to the exposure wavelength λ _B will be described. Use the same material as described above.

Even in this case, the refractive indices of the first layer and the second layer are n _1B , n _2B and have a value different from n _1A and n _2A . First, h _1B is determined to satisfy the transmittance condition. H _2B is also satisfied to satisfy the phase condition equation (2), i.e.

[(n _1B -1) h _1B + (n _2B -1) h _2B ] / λ _B = 1/2 ± 1/6 .......... (B)

Can be determined to be

On the contrary, in the case of a single layer structure, since h _2A = h _2B = 0, the phase condition and the formula (B) are satisfied even when the transmittance condition, the phase condition and n _1A and h _1A satisfying the formula (A) can be determined. H _2A (because n _2A is determined in the same material) is generally determined, and thus the transmittance condition cannot be satisfied.

Next, in view of the above-described problems, the third invention can apply physical cleaning such as brush cleaning, high pressure water cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, etc., which are usually used for clean cleaning of photomasks, and can be sufficiently clean and have high precision. In order to develop a halftone phase shift photomask and a blank for the halftone phase shift photomask therefor, the result is completed.

That is, the halftone phase shift photomask of the third invention has a transparent region on a transparent substrate and a semitransparent layer region made of chromium compound formed by physical vapor phase growth method to provide a transmittance of the transparent region with respect to the exposure wavelength during transfer. When it is set at 100%, the transmissivity of the translucent layer inverse is 3 to 35%, and the phase of the exposure wavelength is substantially shifted 180 degrees with respect to the transparent region.

In this case, it is preferable that the chromium compound is chromium, oxygen or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen or chromium, oxygen, carbon, or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen or carbon, and the translucent layer is a single layer film or a multilayer film of two or more layers.

In addition, the blank for a halftone phase shift photomask according to the third aspect of the invention has a translucent layer made of chromium compound formed on the transparent substrate by a physical vapor deposition method, so that the transmittance of the transparent substrate is 100% with respect to the exposure wavelength during transfer. When the translucent layer has a transmittance of 3 to 35% and the phase shift amount of the exposure wavelength of the translucent layer is substantially 180 °.

In this case, it is preferable that the chromium compound is chromium, oxygen or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen or chromium, oxygen, carbon or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen or carbon, and the translucent layer is a single layer film or a multilayer film of two or more layers.

The physical vapor phase growth method for forming the chromium compound as a translucent layer may be a vacuum film formation method such as sputtering, ion plating, or vapor deposition. In the development, sputtering is most suitable. In addition, the transmittance of the translucent layer is effective at 3 to 35% when the transmittance of the transparent region or the transparent substrate is 100%, and the range of 5 to 20% is most suitable.

In addition, the chromium compound is made of chromium, oxygen or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen or chromium, oxygen, carbon or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon, but may contain other transition metals other than chromium such as titanium, tungsten, tantalum and molybdenum. do.

In addition, by making the translucent layer into a multi-layered film of two or more layers, the etching characteristics can be controlled according to the difference in the structure structure and the difference in the component ratios during the etching processing for each layer, and the etching single layer perpendicular to the single layer is obtained under the same continuous etching conditions. This becomes possible.

As the etching method of the translucent layer, a wet etching method using a mixed aqueous solution of general cerium nitrate and perchloric acid or a dry etching method using a mixed gas in which oxygen is added to C1 ₂ , CC1 ₄ , CHC1 ₃ , CH ₂ C1 _2, etc. good.

For the film thickness of the multilayer film constituting the translucent layer, when the wavelength of the exposure light is λ, the thickness of each layer is t _i , and the refractive index is n _i at the exposure wavelength of each layer,

a = Σ _i t _i (n _i -1) / λ

In this case, it may be adjusted so that a = 1/2, and the phase shift amount is effectively 180 degrees. Where Σ _i represents the sum of i. Moreover, when 1/3 <= a <= 2/3, the effect of a phase shift layer is recognized, It is best that a is near 1/2.

In the halftone phase shift photomask and the blank for halftone phase shift photomask according to the first aspect of the present invention, the structure is simple and the plate making process can be shortened, so that the cost reduction and the yield improvement can be achieved. Since most of the production line of the chromium photomask can be used as it is, the practical use becomes very easy.

Next, in the second invention halftone phase shift photomask and the blank for halftone phase shift photomask therefor, the film structure of the semitransparent film of the halftone phase shift photomask is chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide chromium oxide, or oxynitride. Since it is a multi-layered film of one of chromium chromium and chromium or chromium nitride, phase shift effect is achieved even if the transmittance of chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide chromium oxide or chromium oxynitride carbide is relatively high on the long wavelength side used for inspection of photomask. Can act as a phase shift layer, while the effect of suppressing the long-wavelength-side transmittance can be shared (as a transmittance adjusting layer) to chromium or chromium nitride, thereby allowing long wavelengths as well as transmittance in exposure light. The transmittance at the side can also be freely controlled. Therefore, the transmittance | permeability in the e-ray used for normal test | inspection and dimension measurement can also be suppressed to 30% or less, and a normal test | inspection etc. are possible without a problem.

In addition, since the conductive film is included in the multilayer structure, charging can be prevented during electron beam exposure.

In addition, since the optical constant is a multilayer film structure of chromium compounds having different optical constants, the transmittance and the reflectance can be controlled by the combination of the film thicknesses.

In addition, by adjusting the film thickness of each layer while maintaining the same film composition of each layer, an optimum multi-layer structure can be realized for at least two different exposure lights, respectively.

In the third aspect of the present invention, since the translucent layer is made of a chromium compound formed by physical vapor deposition, physical cleaning such as brush cleaning, high pressure water cleaning, and ultrasonic cleaning, which have been conventionally used for clean cleaning of photomasks, is applied as it is. Since it is possible, the clean halftone phase shift photomask and the blanks for halftone phase shift photomask which have the quality equivalent to or the extension of a normal photomask can be manufactured. In addition, since the semi-transparent layer of the halftone phase shift photomask is less than half of that in the case of using conventional coated glass, it is possible to manufacture a high precision having a more vertical processing cross section.

Examples of the halftone phase shift photomask, the blanks for the halftone phase shift photomask, and a method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention will be described below. In particular, Examples 1 and 2 correspond to the first invention, Examples 3 to 7 correspond to the second invention, and Examples 8 and 9 correspond to the third invention.

Example 1

An embodiment of a single layer halftone phase shift photomask is described with reference to the drawings for explaining the manufacturing process of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1 (a), a chromium compound film 802 is formed to a thickness of about 50 nm on the mirror-polished silicon wafer 801 by sputtering as described below, and the sample 807 for polarization analysis Got.

Film Forming Device: Planer Type DC Magnetron Sputter Device

Target: Metal Chrome

Gas and flow rate: carbon dioxide gas 70sccm + nitrogen gas 30sccm

Sputter Pressure: 3mTorr

Sputter Current: 6A

Next, using a commercially available spectral ellipsometer (ES-4G manufactured by Soplus), the sample 807 was measured for refractive index u and extinction coefficient k at mercury lamp i-ray wavelength (365 nm), respectively u = 2.580, k = 0.374. A film necessary for shifting the phase of transmitted light having a wavelength of 365 nm by 180 ° when formed on a high-purity synthetic quartz used as a photomask substrate by treating this as a metal film appearing in M. Born, E. Wolf, Principles of Optics. The thickness was calculated, and was 118 nm.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), about 120 nm of the chromium compound film 804 was formed on the optically polished and well-cleaned high purity synthetic quartz substrate 803 under the condition of film formation. The blanks (808) for the single-layer halftone phase shift photomask of this invention which are about 15% were obtained. This chromium compound was chromium oxynitride carbide.

Next, as shown in Fig. 1 (c), a desired resist pattern 805 containing an organic material as a main component is obtained on this blank 808 by an electron beam lithography method or a photolithography method which is a usual method. As shown in d), the semi-transparent film 804 exposed by the resist pattern 805 is selectively dry-etched by treating in a high frequency plasma under a condition of a mixed gas of CH ₂ CL ₂ : O ₂ = 1: 2.5 and a pressure of 0.3 Torr. The desired translucent film pattern 806 was obtained. The last remaining resist was peeled off in the usual manner to obtain a single layer halftone phase shift photomask 809 of the present invention as shown in Fig. 1 (e).

This single layer halftone phase shift photomask can be useful for practical purposes such as dimensional accuracy, cross-sectional shape, film thickness distribution, transmittance distribution, and adhesion of the film to the substrate.

Example 2

An embodiment of a multilayer halftone phase shift photomask is described with reference to the drawings for explaining the manufacturing process of FIG. In the same manner as in Example 1, a sample for polarization analysis was prepared in advance, the refractive index and the extinction coefficient were measured, and after calculating the film thickness necessary for shifting the light having a wavelength of 365 nm by 180 °, it is shown in Fig. 2 (a). As described above, when the chromium compound 902 was actually formed on the high purity synthetic quartz substrate 901 under the following conditions, the light transmittance having a wavelength of 365 nm was about 20%.

Film Forming Device: Planer Type DC Magnetron Sputter Device

Target: Metal Chrome

Gas and flow rate: carbon dioxide gas 20sccm + nitrogen gas 80sccm

Sputter Pressure: 3mTorr

Sputter Current: 6A

Next, when about 10 nm of metal chromium 903 was formed on the chromium compound 902 under the following conditions, the blanks 906 for the multilayer halftone phase shift photomask of the present invention having a light transmittance of about 12% having a wavelength of 365 nm. )

Film Forming Device: Planer Type DC Magnetron Sputter Device

Target: Metal Chrome

Gas and flow rate: argon gas 100sccm

Sputter Pressure: 3mTorr

Sputter Current: 6A

Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), a desired resist pattern 904 containing an organic material as a main component is obtained by an electron beam lithography method or a photolithography method which is a common method on the blanks 906, and then, FIG. The semi-transparent film exposed by the resist pattern 904 is treated in a high frequency plasma under a mixed gas of CH ₂ CL ₂ : O ₂ = 1: 2.5 and a pressure of 0.33 Torr to selectively dry-etch selectively to provide a chromium compound. A desired translucent film pattern 909 consisting of a pattern 905 and a metal chrome pattern 908 was obtained. The last remaining resist was peeled off in the usual manner to obtain a multilayer halftone phase shift photomask 907 of the present invention as shown in Fig. 2 (d).

Since the layer 902 mainly composed of a chromium compound and the metal chromium film 903 have the same chromium atom as a parent, the etching characteristics are almost the same, so that the pattern processing characteristics of the multilayer halftone phase shift photomask 907 are performed. It is almost the same as the single-layer halftone phase shift photomask as shown in Example 1.

The two-layer halftone phase shift photomask can also be useful for practical purposes such as dimensional accuracy, cross-sectional shape, film thickness distribution, transmittance distribution, and adhesion of the film to the substrate.

Example 3

First, CrO _X N _Y C _Z is formed on the optically polished quartz substrate so as to have a thickness of 125 nm. The i-line (365 nm) transmittance of this film is 13% and the e-ray (546 nm) is 45%. Next, a 9 nm CrN film is formed on this film. The i-ray transmittance of this CrN film is 60%, and the transmittance in e-ray is 59%. The transmittance in this two-layer laminated film is i-line transmittance of 7.8% and e-line transmission of 26.6%. At this time, the refractive index at line i of the CrN film is 1.9, and the refractive index at line i of the CrO _X N _Y C _Z film is 2.4. Typically, sputtering is used to form these films.

Next, a resist layer having a thickness of 0.1 µm to 2.0 µm is formed by spin coating i-line resist NPR-895i (manufactured by Nagase Sanyo Co., Ltd.) on the blank and prebaking. Quartz and high-purity quartz are preferred as the substrate. Low expansion glass, MgF ₂ , CaF ₂ and the like can also be used. The heat treatment of the resist layer varies depending on the type of resist, but is usually performed at 80 ° C to 150 ° C for 5 minutes to 60 minutes.

Next, a predetermined pattern is exposed using a laser exposure apparatus such as CORE-2564 (manufactured by Etec Systems Inc.), the resist layer is developed with a developer mainly composed of TMAH (tetramethylammonium hydride), and then rinsed with water. .

Next, if necessary, heat treatment and decompression are performed to remove the resist pattern of the resist pattern, and then dry etching the semi-transparent film of the portion to be exposed from the opening of the resist pattern by etching plasma using CH ₂ Cl ₂ + O ₂ gas. To form a shading pann. The shading pant may be formed by wet etching instead of dry etching by etching gas plasma.

After etching in this manner, the remaining resist is removed by oxygen plasma to complete a halftone phase shift photomask.

The transmittance of this mask was 10% at i-ray (365 nm) and 29% at e-ray, and was inspected without any problem using the comparative inspection apparatus KLA-219HRL-PS (manufactured by KAL). Moreover, the dimension measurement using the transmissive dimension measuring apparatus MPA-3 (made by Nikon Corporation) did not produce a problem.

Next, the effect of improving transfer characteristics when the phase shift photomask of the present invention is used will be described.

For example, when an attempt is made to transfer a 0.4 µm hole pattern to a 1 µm thick positive novolac resist on a wafer using a 5: 1 reduction projection exposure apparatus (NA = 0.5) using an i-line (365 nm), The depth of focus (tolerance of the deviation of the focal spot which obtains an opening of 0.4 mu m) was investigated in the case of using the photomask and in the case of using the phase shift photomask of the present invention. As a result, in the conventional photomask, only a depth of 0.6 µm was obtained on the wafer, but using the phase shift photomask of the present invention having a phase of 180 ° and a transmittance of 10% with respect to the i-line, a depth of 1.2 µm was achieved on the wafer. Could get This makes it possible to form holes of 0.4 mu m on wafers of actual devices having a step of about 1 mu m in the i-line reduced projection exposure apparatus.

In addition, in the reduced projection exposure apparatus of g line (wavelength: 436 nm), the phase shift photomask of the present invention, which is optimized for phase and transmittance with respect to g line, is used similarly to the i line, thereby improving the depth of focus compared to a conventional photomask. lost.

According to the exposure method using the phase shift photomask of the present invention, since the depth of focus can be improved to prevent the occurrence of exposure failure, the yield can be improved in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device. This exposure method can be effectively used in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices such as DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, ASIC, microcomputer, GaAs, etc. of 4M, 16M, 64M, and 256M. It can fully use also in the manufacturing process of a device and a liquid crystal display.

Example 4

As the layer structure of the translucent film, the three-layer structure shown in Fig. 12 is used.

The exposure wavelength is 365 nm. When the substrate is quartz, the refractive index is 1.475, and the film 7 and the film 9 are chromium oxynitride carbides, and the film 8 is chromium nitride. The refractive index and extinction coefficient are in the order of n ₀ : 1.475, n ₁ : 2.46, k ₁ : 0.29, n ₂ : 1.94, k ₂ : 3.15, n ₃ : 2.46, k ₃ : 0.29, n ₄ : 1. Further, the thickness of the film 7 is h ₁ , the thickness of the film 8 is h ₂ , and the thickness of the film 9 is h ₃ . At this time, when h ₁ = 70 nm, h ₂ = 5 nm, and h ₃ = 54.9 nm, the phase difference Ф of the film forming part and the unformed part becomes Ф = 171 ° considering the interface phase difference.

The _{(n 2 - 1) △ h} 2 + (n 3 - 1) △ h 3 = 0 for the thickness of △ h ₂ by a film (9) a thickness to meet the requirements of the film (8) a relationship between △ h of ₃ However, even if Δh ₂ and Δh ₃ are both changed, the phase difference does not change even if the positive value increases the film thickness and the wealth indicates a decrease in the film thickness. 15 shows changes in transmittance when h ₂ and h ₃ are changed to satisfy this relationship. The transmittance | permeability was computed by Formula (2) and the optical constant of each said film | membrane.

It can be seen that the transmittance can be controlled by only changing the film thickness of the two layers while maintaining the phase difference without changing the film quality by creating the three-layer structure as shown in FIG. In addition, chromium oxynitride carbide is used for the membranes 7 and 9, but instead of chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide chromium, chromium oxynitride carbides, the membrane (8) is used instead of the membrane (7). ), One kind of chromium or chromium nitride may be used, and the film 9 may be one of chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide carbide, and chromium oxynitride carbide. In addition, the film 7 and the film 9 may not be the same material.

In this embodiment, the three-layer structure as shown in FIG. 12 is described, but the same control is possible even in the two-layer structure shown in FIG.

Example 5

The three-layer structure of FIG. 12 was used as the layer structure of the translucent membrane.

The exposure wavelength is 365 nm. When the substrate 1 is made of quartz, the refractive index is 1.475, and the film 7, the film 9 are made of chromium oxynitride carbide, and the film 8 is made of chromium nitride _. : 1.475, n ₁ : 2.46, k ₁ : 0.29, n ₂ : 1.94, k ₂ : 3.15, n ₃ : 2.46, k ₃ : 0.29, n ₄ : 1. The thickness of the film 7 is h _1, the thickness of the film 8 is h ₂ , and the thickness of the film 9 is h ₃ . At this time, when h ₁ = 8 nm, h ₂ = 10 nm, and h ₃ = 120 nm, the phase difference Ф of the film forming part and the unformed part becomes Ф = 181 ° considering the interface phase difference.

At this time, even if the thicknesses h ₁ and h ₃ of the films 7 and 9 are changed to satisfy the relationship of h ₁ + h ₃ = 128 nm, the phase difference does not change. So as to satisfy the relationship h _1, the mask surface of a case where changing the h _3, shows a change in reflectance when the mask in Fig. The reflectance was calculated by the formula (3) and the optical constant of each film.

In this figure, it can be seen that by using the three-layer structure as shown in Fig. 12, the reflectances on the mask surface and the mask back surface can be controlled by changing the film thickness. In addition, chromium oxynitride carbide is used for the membranes 7 and 9, but instead of chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide chromium, chromium oxynitride carbides, the membrane (8) is used instead of the membrane (7). ), One kind of chromium or chromium nitride may be used, and the film 9 may be one of chromium oxide, chromium oxynitride, chromium oxide carbide, and oxynitride carbide chromium. In addition, the film 7 and the film 9 may not be the same material.

Example 6

Reactive sputtering using chromium and a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide as a sputter gas to the target on the optically polished quartz substrate to control the gas flow rate ratio so that the film thickness of chromium oxynitride carbide having i-line refractive index 2.50 and i-line extinction coefficient 0.27 It is formed to be 116nm. Next, by controlling the gas flow rate using reactive sputtering using argon and nitrogen, chromium nitride having an i-line refractive index of 1.93 and an i-line extinction coefficient of 3.15 is formed to have a film thickness of 10 nm. The sheet resistance of this film is 26 kW / square. The i-ray transmittance at this time is 7.0%.

Next, an electron beam resist EBR-900 (manufactured by Toray Co., Ltd.) is spin-coated on the blank, and a resist layer having a thickness of 500 nm is formed by prebaking at 110 ° C.

Next, a predetermined pattern is exposed by the electron beam exposure apparatus MEBESIV (manufactured by Etec Systems Inc.). At this time, by using the conductive chromium nitride for the uppermost layer, charging during exposure is prevented and phase shift of the resist pattern does not occur.

Next, a resist pattern is formed by developing and rinsing pure water with a developer mainly composed of TMAH (tetramethylammonium hydride).

Then, if necessary, heat treatment and decompression are performed to remove the resist scum and the like, and then the semi-transparent film to be exposed from the opening of the resist pattern is processed by dry etching with a mixed gas of CH ₂ C _{1 2} + 0 ₂ and oxygen. To form a translucent pattern.

Thus, after the etching, the remaining resist is removed by oxygen plasma, and cleaned, inspected, and corrected, thereby completing a good halftone phase shift port mask.

In this embodiment, the two-layer structure as shown in FIG. 10 has been described, but the same control is possible even in the three-layer structure shown in FIG.

Using the two-layer structure shown in FIG. 11 as a layer structure of the translucent film, the film 5 was made of chromium nitride and the film 6 was made of chromium oxynitride carbide. The exposure wavelength is set to lambda _i = 365 nm (i line) and lambda g = 436 nm (g line). The refractive indices and extinction coefficients of the film 5 and the film 6 with respect to the i-line are n _1i = 1.94, k _1i = 3.15, n _2i = 2.47, k _2i = 0.29, respectively, and the film 5 and the film of the same composition. The refractive index and extinction coefficient for g line of (6) were n _1g = 2.36, k _ig = 3.51, n _2g = 2.38, and k _2g = 0.14, respectively.

Therefore, the film thicknesses of the film 5 and the film 6 in the i-line layer structure are formed such that h _1i = 10 nm, h _2i = 125 nm, and g 1-layer layer structure, respectively, h _1g = 15 nm and h _2g = 160 nm. Blanks each having a phase difference of about 180 ° and a transmittance of 6 to 8% were produced with respect to the line and the g line.

In addition, the phase difference should be evaluated based on Equation (1) using the above numerical value, but if it is simply evaluated by a value of Equation (2), a = 0.53 for i line and a = 0.55 for g line, a Since it is close to 1/2, it can be confirmed that it is a reasonable film thickness selection.

The advantages of this structure are as follows.

(1) Blanks for i-rays and g-rays can be produced simply by changing the film formation time without changing the film-forming conditions, thereby increasing manufacturing stability and facilitating process management.

(2) Quality assurance is easy because only a few compositions need to be characterized.

Example 8

19 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a halftone phase shift photomask according to an embodiment of the present invention. The first semi-transparent film 302 having a thickness of 70 nm made of chromium compound composed of chromium, oxygen and nitrogen formed by PVD on the transparent substrate 301 made of optically polished quartz glass, and formed of chromium, A second semitransparent film 303 having a thickness of 65 nm made of a chromium compound composed of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon is stacked, and the first semitransparent film pattern 302 and the second semitransparent film pattern 303 each having a patterned pattern are translucent. The layer pattern 304 is comprised. The refractive indices at 356 nm of the first semitransparent film 302 and the second semitransparent film 303 were 2.3 and 2.4, respectively. The refractive index of each layer was about 20% adjustable by controlling the film forming conditions.

Fig. 20 shows an example of the spectral transmittance of light in the wavelength range of 200 to 800 nm in the semi-transparent layer 304 region of the halftone phase shift photomask of this embodiment, wherein the transmittances at 365 nm are 11.5% and 3 to 35%. It is adjusted within the range. The transmittance of each layer was adjustable by controlling the film forming conditions and the film thickness.

When the two-layer semi-transparent layer 304 formed on the transparent substrate 301 formed by this embodiment is etched at an oblique angle from the top, the cross section of the semi-transparent layer is changed according to the difference in etching characteristics. It turned out that it is divided into two parts, and the edge part is adjusted so that it may become perpendicular | vertical with respect to a board | substrate surface.

21 (a) to 21 (c) are cross-sectional views for explaining the manufacturing method of this embodiment.

First, as shown in FIG. 21 (a), the first semitransparent film 302 is formed by sputtering using a mixture of argon, oxygen, and nitrogen with chromium as a target on a transparent substrate 301 made of optically polished quartz glass. Is formed by a thickness of 70 nm, and the second semitransparent film 303 is laminated by a thickness of 65 nm by sputtering using a mixed gas of argon, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide thereon to form a semitransparent layer 304 having two layers. The blanks for halftone phase shift photomask in which the () was formed were completed.

The refractive index at wavelength 365nm of the 1st semi-transparent film 302 and the 2nd semi-transparent film 303 at this time was 2.3 and 2.4, respectively. In addition, the light transmittance in the wavelength range of 200-800 nm was the same as the case of FIG.

Next, as shown in Fig. 21B, a desired resist pattern 306 mainly composed of organic material was formed on the semitransparent layer 304 by using electron beam lithography or photolithography, which is a common method.

Next, as shown in Fig. 21 (c), the semitransparent layer 304 exposed in the resist pattern 306 by a dry etching method using a mixed gas in which oxygen is added to C1 ₂ , CC1 ₄ , CHC1 ₃ , CH ₂ C1 ₂ and the like. ) Is continuously etched to form a desired extraction pattern 305. One embodiment of the halftone phase shift photomask according to the present invention shown in FIG. 19 was completed by removing the remaining resist 306 with plasma ashing or a wet stripper.

Example 9

Fig. 22 shows a sectional view of an embodiment of another halftone phase shift photomask blank. This blank is formed on a transparent substrate 301 made of optically polished quartz glass by the same sputtering method as in Example 8, the first semitransparent film having a thickness of 70 to 90 nm made of a chromium compound composed of chromium, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon. 307 is formed, and the vacuum heating treatment is performed at a temperature of 200 ° C. to 400 ° C. for about 10 to 30 minutes to improve the film structure and the surface, and then the chromium compound is formed by the same method as the first translucent film 307. A second semitransparent film 308 having a thickness of 40 to 70 nm was laminated on the first semitransparent film 307 to form a semitransparent film 309, thereby completing the halftone phase shift photomask blanks of Example 9 of the present invention. .

In this embodiment, since the second semi-transparent film 308 is formed after the surface modification of the first semi-transparent film 307, the columnar structure is fine compared to the semi-transparent layer formed at the same time, so the semi-transparent layer of two layers is formed. The halftone phase shift photomask blank of Example 9 of the present invention having (309) had better etching operation accuracy.

In Example 9, the chromium compound containing chromium, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon is limited, but chromium, oxygen, or chromium compound containing chromium, oxygen, nitrogen, or chromium, oxygen, and carbon may be used.

As can be clearly seen from the above description, the halftone phase shift photomask and the blank for the same according to the first invention have a simple structure, which can shorten the plate making process, thereby reducing cost and improving yield. Since the manufacturing line of the conventional chromium photomask can be used as it is, practical use becomes very easy.

In addition, according to the blanks for the halftone phase shift photomask and the halftone phase shift photomask of the second invention of the present invention, the same steps, the same inspection steps, and the same modification steps as those of ordinary photomasks are possible. As a result, halftone phase shift photomasks, which have been reduced in yield due to the increase of conventional processes and the impossibility of defect correction, have been increased, can be produced at about the same cost as a conventional photomask. In addition, charging can be prevented during electron beam exposure, and the combination of the film thicknesses enables the control of the transmittance and the reflectance.

In addition, by adjusting the film thickness of each layer while maintaining the same film composition of each layer, an optimum multilayer structure can be realized for at least two different exposure lights, respectively.

In addition, according to the blanks for the halftone phase shift photomask and the halftone phase shift photomask of the third aspect of the present invention, since the translucent layer is made of a chromium compound formed by physical vapor deposition, it is conventionally used for clean cleaning of the photomask. Because physical cleaning such as brush cleaning, high pressure water cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, etc. can be applied as it is, clean halftone phase shift photomasks and blanks for halftone phase shift photomasks having the same or extended quality as conventional photomasks can be used. It can manufacture. In addition, since the semi-transparent layer of the halftone phase shift photomask is less than half of that in the case of using conventional coated glass, it is possible to manufacture a high precision having a more vertical processing cross section.

Claims (4)

A transparent region on the transparent substrate and a semitransparent layer region made of chromium compound formed by physical vapor deposition method, and the transmissivity of the translucent layer region is 3 when the transmittance of the transparent region is 100% with respect to the exposure wavelength during transfer. A halftone phase shift photomask, wherein the phase of the exposure wavelength is substantially shifted by 180 ° with respect to a region in which the translucent layer region is ˜35% and is transparent. The method of claim 1, wherein the chromium compound is chromium, oxygen or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen or chromium, oxygen, carbon or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and the translucent layer is a single layer film or a multilayer film of two or more layers. A halftone phase shift photomask, characterized in that. A translucent layer of a chromium compound formed on the transparent substrate by physical vapor deposition is provided, and the transmittance of the translucent layer is 3 to 35% when the transmittance of the transparent substrate is 100% with respect to the exposure wavelength during transfer. A blank for a halftone phase shift photomask, wherein the phase shift amount of the exposure wavelength of the translucent layer is substantially 180 °. 4. The chromium compound according to claim 3, wherein the chromium compound is chromium, oxygen or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen or chromium, oxygen, carbon or chromium, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and the translucent layer is a single layer film or a multilayer film of two or more layers. A blank for a halftone phase shift photomask, characterized by the above-mentioned.